(Darmouth, England)- The J/105 class’s UK National Championships was held concurrently with the 166th Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta. Local boats Mary Sturgess’ JALDI and David Sheehan / Peter Sandover’s JACANA welcomed the Solent fleet for the a series of 8 windward-leeward courses in the Western end of Start Bay, and a coastal race.
Racing commenced in the traditional way for a bank holiday weekend with grey skies, rain and a blustery 12-20 kts from the North East, and after a long day on the water Class Captain Chris Jones in JOURNEYMAKER 5 showed the best form with 2 wins out of 3.
Day 2 bought the coastal race, variously viewed as either an opportunity for a shorter day and an early return to the hospitality of RDYC, or an eccentric intrusion on the normally ordered world of the one designs. Shifty and gusty conditions again from an unstable northerly airstream gave plenty of opportunities for gains and losses, but after almost 3 hours of racing James Heald in FLAWLESS J took the gun by 3 seconds to JOURNEYMAKER 5, putting JOURNEYMAKER 5 in front of the series with only 4 points separating the top 4 boats for the start of Day 3.
Saturday bought fine weather at last and an oscillating North-Westerly 15-20 kts, which rewarded boats that found space to use the shifts. Lymington-based reigning National champion William Newton in JELLY BABY found consistency with two 2nds, but was thwarted by an OCS in the last race. It was Hamble based Warsash Spring Series and J/Cup winners Rob Dornton-Duff’s JAVA TEAM GILL, however, that found pace and took 3 wins and the series lead overnight. That evening the class hosted other Dartmouth Sailing Week J teams on a party boat on the River Dart, for dinner and a prime viewing location for the regatta fireworks.
Sunday dawned with similar conditions to the previous day and the top place still open. A 2nd place by JAVA TEAM GILL however sealed their win, and left JELLY BABY, FLAWLESS J and JOURNEYMAKER 5 to fight out 2nd and 3rd. A tightly fought final race between JAVE and JELLY BABY gave JAVA TEAM GILL its 5th win of the series, JELLY BABY overall runner up and FLAWLESS J 3rd. Rounding out the top five were JOURNEYMAKER 5 in 4th and Ivan Trotman's JOLENE in 5th. For more information about J/105 UK sailing.
